Improvement in hand-stamps



' B. BV. HILL.

Hand-Stamp. No. 163,197. Patenredmaymrsm.

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BENJAMIN B. HILL, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAND-STAMPS.

Sp eeilication forming part o1 Letters Patent No. R63,E97, dated May ll,1875; application led March 17, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN B. HILL, ofSpringlield, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in HandStam ps 5 and that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing making a part of this specification, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

Figure l is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transversevertical section through the pivot ofthe lever. `Fig. 3 is a side viewof' the operating mechanism; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of oneot' the type-wheels at the printing gure, showing1 the cutting form ofthe figures.

My invention relates to a device for making impressions of iigures orcharacters, rcpresenting any given date, into tickets, by indenting the1i gures or characters therein without 'the use of color, and. in suchmanner that the impression of the iigures or characters will bepermanent, without possibility of erasure, and so that the reverse sideof the ticket will remain smooth and free from any imprint, and to thisend my invention consists of a series of rotating stamp-wheels arrangedin a case or stand, and provided on their peripheries with figureshaving a sharp or cutting edge, and operated by pressure against aplaten,

, with a ticket placed between, by which said figures or characters areforced or indented into the ticket, and the date and the number of thetrain for which the ticket was sold are stamped into the ticket withoutthe use of color, so that the date and number cannot be erased orchanged.

In the drawings, C represents a base, having thereon the case C, withinwhich ispivoted, at l), the lever A, projecting from the case, andhavingupon its end the pad A. A platen, o, is attached to'a spring, d,which is secured to the case by screws d', or in any other suitablemanner, and is held tilted down by said spring, in a position shown inFig. 2. A rod or bar, z', has a bearing at its upper end in the lowerside of the platen, and at its lower end in the lever A, a little to oneside of its pivot D, on a part of the short arm ofthe lever, as shown inFig. 3, and the long arm may be kept elevated by a spring, m, bearingdown being turned up against the lower end of the rod t', or against thesteel shoe i, set in the lever to receive the lower end of the rod, willremedy the defect to any desired degree.

The platen 0 is made perfectly plane or smooth on its upper side, sothat the ticket placed thereon to receive the imprint may have aperfectly hard and smooth bearing or support. A cylindrical hub, E, issecured in the upper part F of the case by the pinsf, so as to be rm andstationary, and upon this hub are fitted to revolve freely thetype-wheels ct. Each type-wheel a is provided on the inside with aseries of indents or beveled recesses, c, equal in number to theprinting numbers on the periphery, and the hub E is provided with aseries of detents or pins, h, one inside of each printing type-wheel a,said pin having its outer end made conical, and each being placed in ahole in the hub, with a small spring behind it to force it outwardagainstthe type wheel. The numbers or printing characters g on theperiphery of each wheel a are made with a somewhat broad base and anarrow cutting-edge, so that the latter shall be sufficiently sharp toreadily cut into the ticket when it is pressed against the figure. Thisis shown more fully in Fig. 4, in which a is a section of apart of thetype-wheel, and g the cutting gure made thereon. As there are eightwheels represented in the drawing, the

tirst two on the left hand, which are placed together, are provided uponthe periphery with the numbers from 0 to 9, inclusive, at equaldistances apart, to represent the several months of the year. The secondtwo wheels are -provided with the numbers from 0 to 9, inclusive, torepresent the days of the month, and the third two are provided withnumbers to represent the year, generally the last two numbers beingquite sufficientas 7 5 for the year 1875, or 76 for the year 1876, andthe last two wheels are provided with figures by which the number of thetrain for which the ticket was sold may be cut into the latter. Betweenthese figures, on the periphery of each wheel, are indented or madeanother series of the same figures, and in such relative position to theothers that when any certain cutting figure on either wheel is in aposition to stamp, the corresponding indented ligure on that wheel isexposed to view through the opening c at the top, so that to place anydesired cutting figure on any wheel in a posiw tion to stamp, it is onlynecessary to turn that wheel with the finger so that the correspondingindented gure is seen through the opening c. It is better that theorifice B should be somewhat open at its entrance, and decrease inthickness toward the wheels, and of the proper width to receive theticket; and when the ticket is inserted to be stamped, it is pushed inat the opening B until the inner end of the ticket strikes against thestop n. If the hand piece or pad A be then struck down with pressure,the ticket is forced up by the smooth platen o, upon which the ticketrests, against the iigures g', then in position to stamp, and thefigures cut the impression into the ticket, so that it cannot be erased,while the back of the ticket retains its original plane surface andsmoothness. After the impression is taken, the lever A and the platen ospring back to their original positions. The bearing, at either one orboth ends of the bar t', may be provided with a steel shoe, i, toprevent rapid wear, and the shoe at the lower end in the lever A will beraised or lowered by the set-screw fi', to regulate the depth of theimpression in the ticket.

In the use of railway-ticket stamps, a colored or printing` ribbon, orother inking dcvice, has been employed, in connection with type-wheelsor type having a fiat or printing face, in dating a ticket; but when thestamps are in such constant use, itis quite a large item of expense tokeep the inking device in proper order, and at the best very many poorimpressions are made, and even when well made the colored impressionsmay be changed and tampered with by evil-disposed persons.

It is the object of this invention to do away with all color-printin gin dating tickets, and to make an indented impression in the ticketswithout color, which cannot by any possibility be changed, and obviateall trouble and expense of taking care of and adjusting any inkingdevice.

I am aware that printing-machines for making impressions depressed onone side of the paper and raised on the other, styled elnbossed work,have hitherto been used, and I do not claim any device for printing suchembossed work, nor for any surface-printing, either in colors orwithout; but

lVhat I claim as new is- In a dating-stamp, a series of revolvin gtypewheels provided with characters or figuresupon the periphery havingsuch a sharp cutting-edge as to readily pierce the ticket, and leave anindent of the said characters or gures in the ticket, in combinationwith a platen to support the ticket while being stamped, substantiallyas described.

BENJAMIN B. HILL. Witnesses:

T. A. GURTIs, C. E. BUCKLAND.

